Amazon Japan raided on suspicion of antitrust practices: Nikkei

By Thomas Wilson

By Thomas Wilson

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By Thomas Wilson

TOKYO (Reuters) - Japan's Fair Trade Commission has raided the offices of Amazon.com Inc's <AMZN.O> local unit on suspicion of pressuring retailers to offer products at lower prices than on rival sites, the Nikkei business daily said on Monday.

The paper, which cited unidentified sources with knowledge of the case, did not say when the raid took place.

A Japan Fair Trade Commission spokesman said he could not confirm the report but added: "I won't say the contents are incorrect."

Amazon's practices toward retailers and e-commerce partners have also come under scrutiny in Europe.

Germany's Federal Cartel Office began an investigation in November into Apple Inc <AAPL.O> and Amazon after complaints that publishers were being forced to accept "unreasonable conditions" for the marketing of audiobooks.

And the European Union last year opened an antitrust investigation into Amazon's e-book business, examining whether clauses in contracts prevented publishers from offering more favorable deals to Amazon's competitors.

Apple and Audible, Amazon's audiobook business, declined at the time to comment on the German investigation.

On the E.U. probe, Amazon said it was confident its agreements with publishers were legal and in the best interests of readers.